


Annie, You're Scaring Me

by dandellionpuff



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Explicit, Panic Attacks, Rape Aftermath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 15:29:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19134895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandellionpuff/pseuds/dandellionpuff
Summary: When Annie is assaulted, all she wants to do is feel safe, so she shows up at Jeff Winger's apartment in the middle of the night. Jeff comforts her, but when it comes to materially helping, he's at a loss, so he calls Britta.Britta and Jeff take care of Annie and try to balance making sure she feels safe with getting her the medical attention she needs.





	Annie, You're Scaring Me

It was 3 in the morning, and Jeff Winger absolutely, positively did not want to answer the faint knocking at his door. He sat up and wiped the crust from his eyes. He'd just had some pretty intense sex with a 10 not an hour ago, and he was too exhausted to move. 

A minute passed before the person at the door knocked again, but louder this time. 

"Take the hint and go away," he grumbled to himself as he opened the door to his bedroom. 

"Wrong apartment!" he shouted from across his living room. 

The knocking grew more incessant. He sighed to himself, ready to go off at whoever had interrupted his blissful, post-sex slumber, and flung the door open. 

Just as he was formulating a witty insult, his breath caught in his throat.

"Annie. Jesus." 

Her bottom lip trembled, and her face was a sickly, pale green. She stood there shaking in her filthy trench coat, arms crossed protectively over her chest. She stared up at him with glassy eyes. She didn't move. She didn't speak. She just stared, unwaveringly. 

Jeff scanned her with his eyes. Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong. He stood there in shock for a moment before he finally regained his composure.

"Come in," he stepped aside and motioned for her to enter his apartment. She didn't move. She just stood there, trembling. 

"Annie," he said gently. He approached slowly, and put a hand behind her back to usher her inside. For a brief moment her eyes widened, but she didn't resist. Jeff guided her over to the couch. She sat down, arms still crossed in front of her.

"Annie, can you tell me what's wrong?"

She shook her head, but did not speak.

"I want to help you."

She averted her gaze to the ground, and remained silent. 

Jeff moved so that his face was right in front of hers, and examined her eyes. They were dilated. 

"Did you take anything?" 

She shook her head.

"No Adderall? No mixed pills or alcohol?"

She shook her head again.

"Okay," he paused, uncertain of how to respond. She was violently shaking, definitely more than when she arrived. He moved his face away from hers and scooted back a few inches. The shaking subsided a bit.

"Did someone... hurt you?" he asked with apprehension.

She froze for a moment before she closed her eyes and nodded, almost imperceptibly. 

Jeff let out a deep breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"Are you injured?" 

She looked up at him with her wide, blue eyes. She didn't respond, but she looked terrified. The silence hung heavy in the air. She slowly shook her head, and Jeff let out a sigh of relief. 

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

She shook her head. Her eyes glazed over, and Jeff couldn't tell if she was staring into space, or at a memory, or at nothing at all. 

"Annie, please. You're scaring me."

She pulled the trench coach tighter around her body, and without warning, broke out into tears. Slowly, gently, Jeff approached her to place a comforting arm around her shoulder. She leaned into his touch, then threw her arms around his neck and began to sob even harder. He rubbed her back in slow circles. 

As Jeff looked down at the devastated girl in his arms, his eyes caught the black and blue marks under the popped collar of her jacket. They were in the shape of handprints. 

"Annie," he pulled away slightly, but she clung to him even tighter. "Are these bruises?"

She ignored his words and continued to sob into his chest.

"You're hurt," he reiterated with a sense of urgency. He reached for her collar, but she pulled away to look up at him in visible panic, and he stopped in his tracks. 

"Okay, okay, I won't. It's okay." She collapsed back into him. 

"Do you need medical attention?" 

Again, she didn't respond.

"Annie, I'm concerned. Please talk to me." Jeff tried to keep the panic out of his voice. He wasn't equipped to deal with this. He was trying his best, but he was truly at a loss here.

She gripped him tighter, and this time Jeff stopped pressing and let her cry it out. This was little Annie, the baby of the group. Sweet, innocent, try-hard Annie who knew exactly how to manipulate him with one wide-eyed glance and a tremble of her lip. The Annie who wasn't even old enough to drink, who hadn't even seen a penis until a year ago, and even then, it was on a dummy for a sex education presentation. He'd always felt responsible for her to some degree. She was so young. So, so young. Too young for this. 

He seethed with anger at whoever had hurt her, but he held it in. There was a time and a place, and this wasn't it. He held Annie, his thoughts spiraling with possibilities of what could have happened to her, until what felt like hours later, she tired herself out and fell asleep in his arms. 

Jeff hoisted the sleeping girl into his arms and carried her into his bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed, tucked her in, and protectively smoothed over her hair.

He returned to the living room and immediately fell back on the couch, emotionally exhausted. He didn't know how to process this situation, much less how to help Annie. He was completely out of his element. He took out his cell phone and with trembling hands, dialed Britta. She might know what to do.

To his relief, she answered. "What?" she snapped. "It's 4am. Isn't it a little late for a booty call?"

"No, Britta, I-," he didn't know how to finish the sentence. I need you to tell me what to do because Annie's hurt? I need you to come over because Annie needs help and I'm kind of falling apart over here? "Please come over," he settled on.

Britta immediately picked up the distress in Jeff's voice and dropped the sarcasm. "What's wrong?"

"It's Annie," his voice shook. 

"Annie? What happened?" Britta asked with concern.

"Just come over. My place. Hurry," Jeff insisted before he hung up.

He poured himself a glass of whisky on the rocks and sat there at his coffee table, waiting impatiently for Britta's arrival.

By the time she loudly rapped on the door, he was 3 glasses in. He opened the door and Britta rushed inside.

"Where is she?" she asked with a sense of urgency. She did a double-take when she approached Jeff. "Are you drunk? You reek of liquor," she shook her head and brought herself back to the task at hand. "Never mind, we'll get to that later."

"First of all, I'm not drunk," Jeff insisted. "A few glasses maybe, but not drunk." He paused and for a moment, and distress flashed through his eyes. "She's in the bedroom asleep."

"What the hell happened?"

Jeff poured out another glass of whiskey and handed it to her. "You're going to need this."

Britta looked at Jeff warily, but accepted the drink. "Explain."

Jeff moved to the couch, and Britta followed. He felt like he was going to vomit.

"Jeff, are you okay?" Britta asked with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," Jeff insisted. "It's Annie. She showed up at my door in the middle of the night. She looked like crap, and she wouldn't talk to me. I managed to get a little information out of her with yes or no answers. Someone hurt her, and she's not on drugs."

Britta sat there silently, processing.

"She said she wasn't injured, but I saw handprints around her neck."

"Oh my God," Britta finally spoke. "Do you think...?"

"Yeah, I do," Jeff responded somberly. They were both thinking it, but neither of them could bring themselves to say it out loud. Not about Annie. 

"I don't know what to do," he looked at Britta with pleading eyes.

She stared back at him. "And you think I do?" When she saw the anxiety flash across Jeff's face, she sighed deeply. "We'll figure it out. Together."

"Thank you." The relief in his voice was apparent.

Britta took a swig of her drink. "Why'd she come here?" 

"I don't know," Jeff responded.

"We should take her to a hospital." Britta downed the rest of her drink and then slammed it on the table. "I'm gonna need another one of these."

Jeff didn't know what to do, but he was pretty sure the hospital wasn't the right move just yet. "I think we should wait until she wakes up. That's for her to decide." He got up to refill Britta's glass, but on second thought, brought the entire bottle over to the coffee table.

"If she's hurt, she needs to go to the hospital," Britta insisted.

"That's up to her," Jeff reiterated. "Do you really want to force her to do anything right now?"

"I just want her to be okay, Jeff," Britta stood up and exclaimed in frustration.

"So do I," Jeff's voice was low but firm. He stood up in response and towered over her. All of a sudden, his voice quieted to a whisper. "We don't want to wake her."

Britta responded in kind, and dropped her voice. "There could be real damage there. What if she has an STD, or is pregnant? What if she needs stitches? We don't know. We can't check. It's better that the medical professionals handle it."

Jeff sighed. "We've both been drinking. Neither of us can drive her."

"Then we'll call a cab, or an ambulance," Britta responded.

"An ambulance? We don't want to humiliate her, Britta."

"Fine, then a cab," she snapped in annoyance. 

All of a sudden, they heard Annie cry out from the bedroom. Jeff and Britta looked at each other, and made a beeline for the door. Annie was sitting up, eyes shut, shaking and holding herself as if she'd fall apart if she let go. Neither of them had ever seen her in this state before. She'd always been a little tightly wound, sometimes a little manic, but not like this. Never like this.

"Hey, Annie," Britta spoke softly, as if Annie were so fragile she might break, as she tiptoed into the bedroom. Jeff was not far behind. Neither of them turned on the lights. "How are you doing? I'm here now. I promise everything will be okay."

Britta crawled into bed with Annie and put her arm around her. Annie grabbed Britta's arms and held them tightly around her. She laid her head on Britta's lap and broke into a fresh set of sobs. Britta comfortingly pet her hair. "I'm afraid," Annie finally spoke. Her voice was raw.

"It's okay," Britta hushed. "I know you're afraid. You're allowed to be."

Jeff stared at the girls, frozen. He had no idea how to help, and felt useless just standing there. "Can I get you anything? A glass of water?"

Annie nodded. "Yes, please." Jeff was just glad to see her talking. He closed the door to the bedroom behind him and headed for the kitchen.

"Britta?" Annie whimpered.

"Yes?" Britta continued to gently play with Annie's hair.

Annie looked down at her clothes in a panic. "Please help me get these off. Please. I need them off me."

"Okay. Yeah," Britta responded, attempting to not viscerally react to Annie's distress. Not in front of her. She moved to stand up, but Annie held on to her tightly.

"I'm just locking the door," Britta explained. "Is that okay?" Annie let go of her grasp on Britta, nodding.

When Britta returned to the bed, she slowly began to remove Annie's clothes, trying to keep her hands in Annie's vision at all times so as not to scare her. She started with the jacket, and immediately was struck by the bruises that littered her body, and the torn clothes underneath. 

"Still okay?" Britta reaffirmed that Annie was still comfortable. The younger girl nodded, though she still looked terrified. "I can stop at any time, okay?"

"Okay," Annie meekly responded. "Please just- please get them off me. Quickly."

Britta nodded and followed Annie's instructions despite the fear that increasingly etched across the girl's face with every article of clothing that Britta removed. She laid out each piece of clothing neatly on the end of the bed in case they needed evidence for later.

Jeff knocked on the door. "Everything okay in there? I have your water."

"Just a moment!" Britta called out to him.

When Annie was down to her underwear, she stopped Britta. "I'd like to keep these on if that's okay," she spoke in a whisper.

"Of course that's okay," Britta responded. "Let's see if Jeff has any clothes for you, okay?" She opened Jeff's boxer drawer and tee shirt drawer and picked out the first she found in each.

"It looks like you've been here before," Annie joked, but it seemed forced. 

"Yeah, well," Britta mustered up a sly smile. 

As she brought the clothes over to Annie, Britta caught sight of a red patch on the younger girl's underwear, and her smile dropped. "Annie. You're bleeding."

Annie looked up at Britta alarmed, and then looked down. Her eyes widened. She pulled the covers up over her body and wrapped herself up protectively.

Britta moved to the edge of the bed. "Annie, we should take you to the hospital," she spoke softly. 

Annie shook her head violently.

"Annie, please," Britta pleaded. "I can't help you."

She shook her head again. She looked at the clothes in Britta's hands, and then back up at the older woman. Britta got the message, and handed the clothes to Annie.

Annie looked towards the door, then back at Britta. Again, Britta understood. Annie wanted to get dressed alone.

Britta headed towards the door. "I'll be back in a minute, okay? And then we'll talk more about this."

Annie nodded. Britta slipped out the door.

"What was that about?" Jeff asked, glass of water in hand.

"She wanted to change clothes," Britta held in the tears. Now was no time to cry.

"I hope you didn't give her my silk-cotton blend boxers."

Britta's head shot up and she looked at Jeff in incredulous judgement. "Does it matter?"

Jeff paused. "I guess not. Considering."

"Yeah, considering," Britta's sarcasm was biting. 

She took a deep breath and then looked Jeff in the eyes, serious all of a sudden. "She's bleeding."

Jeff looked at Britta in horror. "As in-"

"As in her underwear is stained red," Britta finished his thought. "There's a lot of blood, Jeff."

Jeff responded without missing a beat. "We're taking her to the hospital. Now."

"She said she doesn't want to go," Britta furrowed her brow.

"NOW you're concerned with what she wants?" Jeff exclaimed.

"No," Britta clarified. "But if we can't get her into a cab we're going to have to call an ambulance."

Jeff nodded in somber agreement. 

Britta knocked on the door. "Are you dressed yet? Can we come in?" 

She was met with silence. She peeked in the room, and Annie was fully dressed and back under the covers. She entered the room, and Jeff followed.

"I brought your water," Jeff said helplessly. Annie accepted it gratefully.

"So here's the deal," Britta sat down beside Annie. "You really need medical attention that we can't give you. You're really hurt, Annie."

Annie just looked at Britta with her wide, unwavering eyes. 

Britta continued. "We need to get you to a hospital. Sooner rather than later."

Annie shook violently at the thought. All she could feel was panic, and she began to hyperventilate. 

"Breathe," Britta began to rub Annie's back again. "You're okay. Breathe with me." She continued until Annie was a little calmer and in a place to listen to Britta's words.

"I know it's scary," Britta continued. "I know you don't want anyone touching you again. It's going to be hard, but we need to make sure you're okay. Okay?" 

Annie shook her head again and grabbed Britta's hand tightly.

Britta sighed. "Annie, I love you, and I just want you to be safe. I'm not trying to take your choices away from you, okay? But if you don't want to get in a cab with us to the hospital, we're going to have to call an ambulance."

Annie tried to get up and make a beeline for the door, but as soon as she tried to stand on shaky legs, she collapsed in pain. Jeff caught her before she hit the floor, and she began to struggle against him, against his body's sudden contact with hers.

"I'm sorry," Jeff said in horror as he deposited her back onto the bed. "I'm so sorry."

Annie began to cry. "Please don't make me," she spoke, desperation in her voice. "Please. I just- I just want to leave. Please don't make me go to the hospital. I can't- I can't deal with it. Please." She began to panic again. This wasn't at all what she'd wanted when she came here. She just wanted to feel safe, to not be alone. Jeff always made her feel safe. But she didn't feel safe at all right now. Only trapped.

"I'm sorry, Annie," Jeff whispered, wracked with guilt. He picked up his phone to dial 9-1-1, but Annie stopped him.

"Wait. Wait. If I go to a regular doctor in the morning?" she begged. "Please."

Jeff and Britta looked at each other. It wasn't ideal, but they didn't want to violate her autonomy right now, and at least she would be seeing a medical professional.

"Okay," Britta nodded slowly.

"I think I'm going to take a shower" Annie whispered, looking down at her blanket-covered lap, unwilling to meet either of their gazes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Britta questioned. "If you want to press charges-"

"I don't," Annie responded harshly. "I don't," she repeated softly.

"Okay," Britta nodded slowly.

"The towels are in the bathroom," Jeff volunteered. "We'll be right outside if you need anything, okay?"

Annie nodded. "Thank you."

Both Jeff and Britta headed towards the door. 

"We both love you, you know that right?" Britta asked from the doorway.

"I know. Thank you." Annie's smile was weak, but it was there.

Britta closed the door behind her.

Britta and Jeff silently made their way over to the couch and refilled their glasses with whiskey. 

As they nursed their drinks, Jeff finally spoke. "You were really good in there, Britta."

Britta was silent for a long beat before she spoke. "Yeah, I- I've been there. Annie's going to be just fine."


End file.
